Can Energy Healing Help Pets with Emotional Trauma?
If you have ever deeply loved an animal, you probably know the feeling: something isn't right.
Maybe your dog suddenly seems anxious or withdrawn. Your cat begins behaving differently. A normally social animal starts hiding. Something changes after a move, an illness, the loss of another animal or a frightening experience.
Sometimes you know exactly what happened, sometimes you don't.
And sometimes, particularly with an adopted or rescued animal, there may be entire portions of their history that nobody knows.
Your pet can't sit down with me and explain what happened. They can't tell me when something started, what they were feeling at the time or what they think might be bothering them now.
Fortunately, the way I work does not require them to.
I work with animals using the Emotion Code, Body Code and other energy-based methods, and much of my work with animals is performed by proxy. That means the animal does not need to meet me, interact with me or even be physically near me for me to conduct the session.
Your cat can be asleep on the couch in Australia while I am working from Missouri.
Your dog can be curled up beside you at home.
They don't have to cooperate, sit still or understand what I'm doing.
Animals don't need words for me to ask questions.
What Does It Mean to Work With an Animal by Proxy?
Proxy work is part of the Emotion Code method and practitioner training. It allows a practitioner to act as a proxy for another individual during a session and perform the muscle testing used to ask questions and identify what may be relevant.
I use this method with people as well as animals. Physical distance does not prevent me from working by proxy, which is why I can work with an animal who lives across town, across the country or on another continent.
The animal's person can certainly provide valuable information. In fact, my animal intake form asks about the animal's age, history, current concerns, when an issue began, veterinary care, medications and significant events such as illness, injury, surgery, moving, the arrival or loss of another person or animal, or a previous owner.
But that information gives me a starting point. It doesn't have to give me every answer.
Sometimes the most interesting sessions are the ones where nobody knows the whole story.
What If You Don't Know What Happened to Your Pet?
One of the longest animal sessions I have ever done involved a cat who had experienced significant trauma.
I knew some of his history, but I was not fully aware of everything he had been through when I began working with him. That session ultimately involved approximately two hours of material—more than I had ever had come up while working with an animal.
Among the things that came up were emotions such as terror and fear. As I decoded the information further, those emotions pointed to particular periods in the cat's life.
Those time periods corresponded with traumatic experiences in his history that I had not been fully aware of when I began the session.
I find experiences like that fascinating.
They are also part of why an animal's inability to tell me their story does not prevent me from asking questions.
That particular cat has also had significant physical challenges, including a stroke. He is now nearly 20 years old. He may walk a little crooked these days, but he is still very much himself—including being quite loud and opinionated when he believes it is time to be fed.
Sometimes the Questions Go in Unexpected Directions
I once worked by proxy with a cat in Australia who was eating a special veterinary diet related to bladder and kidney concerns.
During the Body Code session, something related to food came up.
Rather than assuming I knew what that meant, I kept asking questions.
Eventually, I found myself testing through the ingredient list of the cat's food individually because something within that food continued to test as an issue. One particular ingredient ultimately produced a clear yes response through the muscle-testing process.
That did not mean I was diagnosing a food allergy, overriding the veterinarian, or telling the owner to discontinue a medically prescribed diet. Instead, it gave the client some insight so that she and her veterinarian could work together to make appropriate adjustments as they deemed necessary.
What fascinated me was where the questioning led.
The cat certainly hadn't read me the ingredient label. He hadn't told me that something in his food bothered him. I simply followed the questions until I reached the most specific answer I could identify within the method I was using.
That is a large part of how I approach this work: I don't need to decide in advance what the answer should be. I keep asking questions and follow what comes up.
And Sometimes I Am the Pet Parent
Bebe, my precious girl, from puppyhood through adulthood. She was so much more than a pet. She was family, my constant companion, and one of the greatest loves of my life. (2011–2023) 💜
My work with animals isn't simply professional for me.
I have been the person on the other side of this, too.
Bebe wasn't just my dog. She was like a child to me.
She traveled with me regularly and went almost everywhere I went. Traveling together wasn't unusual for us at all.
Before Bebe and I eventually moved to South Carolina in 2021, we made a trip there to visit my partner at the time, who was already living there.
After we arrived, something was different.
Bebe was unusually lethargic. My partner noticed it, too. This wasn't how she normally behaved when we traveled, and it simply wasn't like her, so I worked with her using the Emotion Code.
The emotion of abandonment came up.
As I continued decoding what I was finding, the information indicated to me that Bebe thought I was going to leave her there.
That broke my heart.
Leaving her behind was something I would never have considered. Where I went, Bebe went. I loved that girl more than I can adequately put into words.
I released what had come up during the session, and then I did something decidedly less technical.
I talked to her.
I reassured her that I wasn't leaving her there. I told her that where I went, she went, and that wasn't going to change.
Soon after, Bebe was back to her usual bubbly self.
Experiences like that are part of why I have learned not to assume that an animal has nothing to communicate simply because they cannot communicate with us in words.
Energy Work Doesn't Make Our Animals Immortal
Energy work doesn't make our pets immortal or prevent them from aging. I think that distinction matters.
My precious Bebe passed away in 2023 at the age of 12.
I think that belongs in this article, too.
I loved Bebe like a child. I used energy work with her. I would have done anything within my power to keep her healthy, happy and here with me, but energy work didn't make her immortal.
Animals age. Their bodies change. They become ill. Sometimes despite everything we do for them, the day eventually comes when we have to say goodbye.
I know how painful that is because I have lived it.
I don't promise pet owners that energy work will cure their animal, reverse aging, prevent disease or keep them alive indefinitely. I also don't diagnose medical conditions or replace veterinary care.
What I can do is use the tools I have, ask questions, follow what comes up during the session and approach someone else's beloved animal with the kind of care and respect I would have wanted for my sweet Bebe.
My girl, Bebe, always ready for a little playtime and a whole lot of love. 💜🐾
Your Pet Can Stay Comfortably at Home With You
One of the things I particularly like about proxy work with animals is how little we have to ask of the animal.
There is no car ride to an unfamiliar office.
There is no stranger approaching them.
A fearful animal doesn't have to allow me into their space. A cat doesn't have to come out from under the bed. An elderly animal doesn't need to be moved unnecessarily. An anxious dog doesn't need to decide whether I'm friend or foe.
I don't need your animal to accommodate me in order for me to work with them.
Your pet can remain comfortably at home with you, in the environment and with the people they know, while I conduct the session remotely.
You can provide whatever history you know.
If there are pieces you don't know, that's okay.
And your pet never has to find the words to tell me what's wrong.
Interested in Energy Work for Your Pet?
If something has changed with your animal, you're dealing with a behavioral or emotional concern, your pet has been through a difficult experience, or you're simply wondering whether energy work might be appropriate for them, I offer a complimentary 20-minute consultation.
We can talk about what's going on with your pet, what you know about their history, how proxy sessions work and whether working together seems like a good fit.
Want to Learn More About The Emotion Code?
The Emotion Code by Dr. Bradley Nelson is a great place to begin exploring if you're curious about The Emotion Code and how trapped emotions may affect both people and animals.
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Energy work is complementary and is not a substitute for veterinary examination, diagnosis or treatment. I do not diagnose medical conditions, prescribe veterinary treatment or guarantee outcomes. New, severe, persistent, worsening or concerning symptoms should be evaluated by a licensed veterinarian.